Nothing founder teases company’s first Android smartphone

Carl Pei, founder of Nothing, has teased that the London-based consumer technology startup is working on its very first Android smartphone.

Rumors about a smartphone being developed by Nothing sprang up in October 2021, nine months after the ex-cofounder of OnePlus left the Chinese smartphone maker to launch the very company that reminds Greek mythology buffs of Odysseus calling himself Nobody. On Tuesday, Pei sent out a tweet that seems to corroborate those rumors.

He tweeted only three words: “Back on Android.” At face value, he could be switching back to an Android phone after using the iPhone for so many years. But the deeper you scroll down in the replies, you’ll see the Android and Snapdragon accounts telling Pei something to the effect of getting together to turn Nothing’s smartphone into a reality.

Back on Android

— Carl Pei (@getpeid) February 15, 2022

Initial reports said the Nothing Android smartphone would come equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC at its core, but what model it will be is unknown at this time. They also reported that it would be released early this year, but judging by Pei’s tweet, it might be coming out sooner than we think.

Nothing is only a year old at this point, so this is the first time that Pei has mentioned anything about developing an Android-run phone. The only product it has put out within that short span of time is the Nothing Ear 1 wireless earbuds. They’re similar to AirPods, but they proudly bear the name of their creator down their antennae in its glorious digital font.

Manu Sharma, CEO and vice president of Nothing India, said in November that Nothing has five products in various stages of development, according to Techradar. The Nothing Ear 1 earbuds were the first product to cross itself off the checklist in December. With Nothing acquiring Essential, the smartphone company that went out of business in 2020 due to poor sales, and partnering up with Qualcomm in the last year, we might see Nothing’s first smartphone by the end of spring, if not sooner.

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